East German Dirk Alvermann is best known for his phenomenal 1960 book Algerien that was reproduced in facsimile in Martin Parr's Protest Box, published by Steidl. This Late 70s book by Alvermann (who passed away on September 3 of this year) followed his second, Keine Experimenteby eighteen years.
An astounding book that takes on grand themes--love, birth, Germany’s fraught history, the absurdity of dictatorship, bull fighting in Spain, the Algerian war, a divided Berlin--and pictures them with startling immediacy. In his briskly paced layout, the juxtapositions are purposefully jarring, mirroring obliquely the stark 'black-and-white' world from which he emerged and opening onto universal truths with a force that can be downright biblical. Highly recommended!